kheldar633

kimberlynicole wrote:Can the heat setting be disabled allowing the unit to be used as a regular air circulating fan?

Yes, you can tell it to not power the heating coil by moving the temperature dial to the lowest setting. While this allows it to circulate air, it will not do so nearly as well as a regular Vornado (or other) fan.

Bang-for-your-buck, get a fan to circulate air, get this if you need a good electric heater.

hairylunch

rpstrong wrote:It will suck the exact same amount of electricity, and put out the exact same amount of heat, as any other electric device rated at 1500 watts. That is, 15 100 wt light bulbs will produce the same heat. Or a bunch of desktop fans, totaling 1500 watts (and the circulation would be terrific).

Quite simply, every electric device is 100% efficient in terms of producing heat. If it draws 1500 watts, it will produce 1500 watts (~5100 BTU) of heat. This is simply the basic law of conservation of energy.

Um, you do realize that lights convert most of those watts to light (another form of energy), and that fans convert them to mechanical energy right?

As in that yes, energy won't be created or destroyed, but not everything that sucks up 1500 watts, will convert those 1500 watts to heat.

buggsy2

TCayer wrote:Save your money and get an infra-red heater. The ones with the wooden cabinet. Read the specs on them. You can find 1000/1500 watt heaters that heat up to 1800 square feet.

This is silly, as any electric heating devices with the same wattage will put out the same heat. The ONLY difference between same-wattage devices is how they put the heat into the room...and there's no way that an IR heater is that much different than a heated-air one.

xlamierina

but isn't some of the energy used to spin the fan?
isn't some of the energy used to light the lightbulbs spent on illuminating the room? Aren't there losses in the conversion of electricity to heat? there's no perfect, lossless conversion. now i'm just being a smartass.

rpstrong wrote:It will suck the exact same amount of electricity, and put out the exact same amount of heat, as any other electric device rated at 1500 watts. That is, 15 100 wt light bulbs will produce the same heat. Or a bunch of desktop fans, totaling 1500 watts (and the circulation would be terrific).

Quite simply, every electric device is 100% efficient in terms of producing heat. If it draws 1500 watts, it will produce 1500 watts (~5100 BTU) of heat. This is simply the basic law of conservation of energy.

coondogg97

Add me as one of the folks waiting for a Vornado fan to come back to woot! I have an upright Vornado that I had gotten from woot! a few years ago along with a couple of desktop Vornado fans. They are fantastic! Bring back Vornado fans, should be a good time of year to get them for cheap!!!

hairylunch

buggsy2 wrote:No, the OP is correct. Eventually light and mechanical energy end up as heat energy.

Sure, in a technical sense . . . but most rooms that people are trying to heat with space heaters are not even close to a closed system (meaning with the fan, much of the mechanical energy [and eventual heat] would flow out of the room), and most people want the heat "now" as opposed to when the energy eventually transforms into heat.

rpstrong

xlamierina wrote:but isn't some of the energy used to spin the fan?
isn't some of the energy used to light the lightbulbs spent on illuminating the room? Aren't there losses in the conversion of electricity to heat? there's no perfect, lossless conversion. now i'm just being a smartass.

The spinning fan creates heat in two ways: mechanical friction, and aerodynamic friction. Setting an air mass in motion heats it. Any cooling effect comes from blowing even warmer (and perspiration) away from your skin.

Light energy does convert to heat when the light is absorbed (and radiated) by whatever surface it hits.

And when you speak of "losses" due to conversion factors, what happens to that loss? It is given off as heat. Energy cannot be created or destroyed - it can only change its form.

Consider the case of using too light of an extension cord for a given load. You've probably been told that this is a fire danger.

Why? Because the power that doesn't reach the heater will heat the cord.

triviaace11

"Dual function fan
control for intermittent or constant heat
output. Variable heat setting gives you a
wide range of temperature settings. Variable
heat output up to a maximum of 750W or
1500W. "

I gather from the reviews they were exclusive for wal mart, only sold for a short while, then discontinued due to overheating when used on max wattage. Seems like the thermostat wears out and stops limiting wattage until the element blows and it turns into a regular fan. I don't know but maybe they fixed the thermostat for refurb to sell off the lot.

Did anyone check with WOOT to see if these units were upgraded with the fix as noted?

rpstrong

hairylunch wrote:Um, you do realize that lights convert most of those watts to light (another form of energy), and that fans convert them to mechanical energy right?

As in that yes, energy won't be created or destroyed, but not everything that sucks up 1500 watts, will convert those 1500 watts to heat.

In fact, 100 wt bulbs indeed convert most of their watts to heat, not light. (I understand that this may have started some sort of niche market for fluorescents). The remaining light is ultimately absorbed, heating whatever absorbs it.

If the 1500 watts is consumed (as opposed to charging a battery or lifting an object and leaving it there), then it will end up as heat - the universal waste product.

rpstrong

hairylunch wrote:Sure, in a technical sense . . . but most rooms that people are trying to heat with space heaters are not even close to a closed system (meaning with the fan, much of the mechanical energy [and eventual heat] would flow out of the room), and most people want the heat "now" as opposed to when the energy eventually transforms into heat.

You are correct, but the Vornado touts its ability to circulate air around the entire room - meaning that the more open the room is, the more heat you'll lose. And the light to heat conversion is about as quick as it gets.

Have you ever been to an airshow where simulated bombings occur across the field? A big flash of fire accompanied by an immediate flash of heat. This is largely from IR light - the same source used for 'radiant' heaters (back to the Amish?)

ThunderThighs

These are newly manufactured units. They were built as an exclusive to a retailer that opted out of this unit at the last minute. We swooped in and grabbed then and you reap the benefits. Therefore, you won't be able to find comps or reviews out there for this model.

Looking at the box, it says:

The Wattage is 1,500 Watts, 12.5 Amps and 120VAC. We're adding this info to the specs.

blueberrypie

I had the recalled Vornado model from a number of years ago. After being gone for months for the electrical repair, it lasted only about a year longer. Complaint to Vornado was blown off. I wasn't happy with the short life of this $100 heater and bought a small Holmes unit for under $20. It was useless in a 10 x 15 office but has been well used in a small bathroom for several seasons. The Vornado was great while it worked. I feel safer with the oil radiator type, but they take a while to warm a room. My Delonghi oil type still emits an odor after several seasons. The knob on it won't turn lower than 3 (out of 9?). Delonghi customer service was not helpful and it would have cost too much for me to ship it to them for warranty repair. The Vornado was fast to heat the office. I have a DeLonghi Safeheat Mica Panel Radiator which is also slow, but not as unsightly as many other heaters. So the manufacturers all kind of suck as they don't really stand behind their poorly made products. Just think of how you'll use the heater and buy the type that suits your application. Fast heating fan types will be noisier. Think twice about glowing orange elements plugged in overnight or unattended.

patty30068

Well, I bought one based on the performance of their fans. I have three and could not get through the summer without them. I bought the first one at least 15 years ago and it still runs perfectly. I have an oil furnace and keep my house at 65 degrees in the winter and am hoping this will let me move closer to 60.

torirae55

kcmark

Had this exact heater for 2+ years before it finally shot craps (thermostat went bad and could never find a replacement).

It's a nice heater - every part of the exterior is safe to touch, so good for those with little ones. In terms of heat and blower output - it basically feels like another heater duct. Maybe slightly more air volume movement but the same temperature. The lower setting reduces the fan speed as well as the heat ouput (I think it's set at 750w vs. 1500w on full power).

My wife and I and our kids (and our cat) loved this heater. We bought it at Westlake's Ace Hardware for $39.99 (not on sale) so this doesn't seem like such a great deal to me but it's a good heater and worth paying what was normal full price for us.

kcmark

jsouthard007 wrote:No, because even if you turn the thermostat all the way down it stops blowing once it reaches the temperature.

We had this exact heater - you CAN run it with just the fan. If someone needs further proof - in the Woot pics look at the closeup of the buttons/switches. There is a fan toggle that allows you to set it to "on" (as in on all the time) or to be controlled by the thermostat so that the fan only comes on when the heater kicks on.

If you want Fan only turn the Fan to "On" and turn the thermostat all the way to the left to "AF" and you'll only get unheated air.

kcmark

buggsy2 wrote:No, the OP is correct. Eventually light and mechanical energy end up as heat energy.

What you're not factoring in is how efficient the device is at converting the 1500 watts into a USEFUL output which is felt by the consumer. For example, if you used 10 watts to slightly heat a tiny heating element and 1490 watts to turn a fan blower extremely fast you'll have virtually no useful output - at least in terms of usefulness as a space heater. In that example, you'd basically be using a hairdryer on the "cool" setting, but with even more blowing power, which most would say would be a crappy space heater.

There's a bit more to engineering an excellent space heater than simply getting 1500 watts into it. How efficiently that 1500 watts is used, and in what manner it's used, makes a huge difference in the device's usefulness as a space heater.

We all already know that the energy is not destroyed - it's just transferred and transformed - however, the bottom line is how efficient is any given space heater in heating the intended space. As far as space heaters go, speaking from experience I will say that this Vornado strikes a pretty solid balance in terms of how it uses the 1500w of energy.

rpstrong

kcmark wrote:What you're not factoring in is how efficient the device is at converting the 1500 watts into a USEFUL output which is felt by the consumer. For example, if you used 10 watts to slightly heat a tiny heating element and 1490 watts to turn a fan blower extremely fast you'll have virtually no useful output - at least in terms of usefulness as a space heater. In that example, you'd basically be using a hairdryer on the "cool" setting, but with even more blowing power, which most would say would be a crappy space heater.

There's a bit more to engineering an excellent space heater than simply getting 1500 watts into it. How efficiently that 1500 watts is used, and in what manner it's used, makes a huge difference in the device's usefulness as a space heater.

You have basically three choices:

- forced air
- convection
- radiant

The Vornado is a forced air type, as is the ceramic Holmes under my desk. The Vornado apparently excels at air circulation, making it a better option for heating a room. My Holmes has a much weaker fan, but that works to its advantage in terms of heating just my corner of my office. A convection heater (such as an oil filled type) would probably serve me better - as I want minimal circulation - but I'm not willing to give up the space.

Since I want to concentrate the heat, I don't think I'd be happy with the Vornado.

We all already know that the energy is not destroyed - it's just transferred and transformed - however, the bottom line is how efficient is any given space heater in heating the intended space. As far as space heaters go, speaking from experience I will say that this Vornado strikes a pretty solid balance in terms of how it uses the 1500w of energy.

How the heat is circulated is what is important, not how 'efficiently' it uses the 1500 watts. Each of the heaters operates at 100% efficiency.

My basic point is that no matter how much you spend, you will still get exactly the same net amount of heat. Choose your fan based on your heat circulation needs, and then consider appearance, warranties, etc. But don't believe that brand X will heat more for fewer bucks.

porlob

dean37 wrote:I'm more interested in the cost of running this as opposed to my oil furnace. Is it more or less expensive?

It's not that simple a calculation. If you are using space heaters to heat your whole home, then it would be a LOT cheaper to use your furnace. If you just want to make it cozier near your favorite reading chair, then using a space heater will be more efficient than heating the entire space.

ROGETRAY

robinsegg wrote:I keep trying to order one of these but get the "Your payment authorization was denied. Please try your order again later." message.

What is going on? I always use PayPal and that has always worked before.

Try checking and making sure your PayPal account is activated and working. Please attempt again. If you keep encountering issues I can forward your issue onto Member Services to see is there is anything wrong with your account.

robinsegg

ROGETRAY wrote:Try checking and making sure your PayPal account is activated and working. Please attempt again. If you keep encountering issues I can forward your issue onto Member Services to see is there is anything wrong with your account.

Sincerely,
Woot Staff

I got it to work. I just couldn't use the PayPal selection. I had to use their CC directly. Usually that is set as the backup payment method for them. Between all the changes you and PayPal have been making that no longer works here.

mladyd

I'm tempted, but I have been dissapointed with my latest Vornado room fans. I have 2 older units (8+ years) that are amazing but I bought two more recently, from two different sources, and they both have an annoying buzz/rattle noise that completely defeats the purpose of them, which is to create white noise and airflow in the bedrooms. It would probably go unnoticed in a living area but when you want quiet, or white noise, it's worthless. I wonder if they are cutting corners? Room heaters scare me as it is so I don't want a janky one.

michaels1715

adubioussoul wrote:Does anyone know whether this is ideal for heating an outside greenhouse?

I was wondering the same thing. I have a 10x20 gable greenhouse I bought from Amazon last year and it's terrible at holding the heat. It was actually colder INSIDE the greenhouse than it was outside of it, when we had the spring frosts/freezes in March & April. I am going to replace the crappily-designed covering with real greenhouse plastic, and use one of these to hopefully just keep it above freezing inside. We shall see....

zispinhoff

I've owned a Varnado whole room heater VERY similar to this one for what's going on 15 years. The one I own is 1500 watts, and it does a very respectable job of raising my basement room (~12x25') a few degrees. If you're looking to REALLY crank up the heat of, say, a greenhouse, I'd buy 2.

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